Convocations and Commencement Mark Graduation for Thousands of UT Austin Students

May 13, 2013

AUSTIN, Texas — Faculty members, state legislators, business executives and current and retired government officials will be among those addressing graduates at University of Texas at Austin convocations May 17 and 18.

Colleges, schools and several departments host convocations to honor undergraduate and graduate students individually. At these ceremonies, diplomas are presented individually to students, and doctor's and master's degree students are hooded.

About 8,300 students will receives academic degrees from undergraduate, master and doctoral levels and professional degrees.

The two days of convocation ceremonies culminate with the 130th Spring Commencement ceremony on the Main Mall in front of the Tower on May 18.

The ceremony begins with a carillon prelude at 7 p.m., and the main event begins at 8 p.m. Sanya Richards-Ross, Olympic gold medal runner and former UT Austin student, will be the speaker. The evening ends with the singing of “The Eyes of Texas” and a fireworks display.

The convocation schedule for May 17 and 18, including speakers, is below. More information is available at the 2013 Spring Commencement website.

• 6 p.m. – Department of History, College of Liberal Arts, Bass Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center. Speaker: Maidie Ryan, attorney, philanthropist, volunteer, history and law graduate of The University of Texas at Austin

• 3:30 p.m. – School of Information, AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center, Amphitheatre. Speaker: Sichan Siv, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and author of "Golden Bones"

Please Note: Backpacks, tote bags or any bag larger than 12 inches in any dimension will not be allowed into any of the Commencement venues. All other bags are subject to search by security personnel, including purses, camera cases and diaper bags. Those with larger bags will be turned away. Do not bring any packages that cannot be opened or inspected. Thank you for your cooperation.